DES MOINES, Iowa – The short-handed Iowa Wolves battled to the end in a 116-106 loss to the Indiana Mad Ants on Sunday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.
With the win and the series sweep of Iowa (2-8), Indiana (7-1) added to its first-place lead in the central division in the race to qualify for the Showcase Cup tournament later this month in Orlando, Fla.
Minnesota assignment player Leonard Miller scored a season-high 32 points for Iowa. Miller filled the stat sheet with seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks in a season-best 41+ minutes of action. In his second consecutive start, Javonte Cooke posted a double-double with career-highs of 28 points and 12 rebounds in a season-high 44+ minutes.
Indiana had a balanced scoring attack with five players scoring 17 or more points in the victory. Two-way Kendall Brown and backup Kyle Mangas each scored 19 points.
After their blowout win on Saturday night, the Mad Ants held off a tough Wolves squad Sunday that featured just seven players dressed due to injuries. For the second-straight game, Indiana used a big first-quarter, but on Sunday Iowa fought all back from being down 25 points at one point to be just two points down twice midway through the fourth.
Cooke’s deep three at the 5:55 mark in the final quarter put Iowa just two away for the first time. Jordan Bell converted a one for two free throw before Miller threw down a monster dunk. But Isaiah Wong answered with a layup and Iowa couldn’t slow the Mad Ants down who pulled away.
Sunday was Pride Day, the first game of the Wolves’ Community Celebration Series presented by Principal®. Iowa wore special themed jerseys designed by local artist Cat Rocketship that will be auctioned off to benefit Cap City Pride.
Originally posted on gleague.nba.com